[ male announcer ] when diarrhea hits, kaopectate stops it fast. powerful liquid relief speeds to the source. fast! [ male announcer ] stop the uh-oh fast with kaopectate. our starting point this morning. secretary of state hillary clinton hospitalized for a blood clot. the latest on her condition and a live report. what it all means. down to the final day. 17 hours until we go over the fiscal cliff. can the closers reach a deal in time? if we go over the cliff, you will feel it right away. what happens to your paycheck, and when. i'll explain that ahead. a packed two hours ahead. talking with grover norquist. he is the president of americans for tax reform.

jason chaff et cetera, chris van hollen, and johnny isaacson. >> that's a stacked show. >> soledad is off. "starting point" begins right now. our starting point, a health scare for secretary of state hillary clinton. doctors discovered a blood clot in a followup exam related to her concussion. the location of the clot has not yet been disclosed, but clinton treated with antikanticoagulant. jill dougherty, live in our washington bureau. what are you hearing? >> not a lot. since that statement sunday night, sanjay. they are really saying -- as you said, they are monitoring, and

here is the statement so you can listen to exactly what they said. that her doctors are going to continue to assess her condition, including other issues associated with her concussion. because after all this happened as a result they say of that concussion, and they will determine if any further action is required. so it's really, you know, watch, wait, observe, and see how she's doing. this has kind of grown. remember, you know, the flu, then that leads to a conclusion and now this. so they want to be very, very careful, and as you as a doctor, sanjay know, when the secretary travels a lot. the blood clots can be very dangerous for anyone. we don't know where that blood clot is, that could be a very significant issue. in fact, her travel was on hold until the middle of the month. benghazi hearings, she will be

many coing back this week. looking forward to work and ready to testify up on capitol hill. so all of that will be on hold obviously until they figure out what's going on. >> keep us posted for certain. we expect the best. back in 1998 she call it a blood clot and called it one of the scariest mediciedical experienc her life. >> if you had one before, you are at higher risk, and if you travel a lot, the blood flow may be compressed, benning your legs like that, and with the concussion, one of the things she was told was to rest. not easy for her to do, i can tell you for a fact. that may be part of the inactivity. >> and we don't know what the cause is. back in 1998, it was deep vain thrombosis. >> dvt, a clot in one of the leg veins, in and of itself, not a problem, but it can break off and go to the lungs, called a

pulmonary embolism, she is on blood thinners, and you treat the brain clot. this is within one of the blood vessels in her legs. they haven't told us. >> what do they do about this? once you have had an episode of dvt, what's the treatment? >> blood thinners, you want to tip the balance a little bit so you are more likely to break up the clot. the downside, rumor likely to bleed if you injure yourself. it's a careful balance and that's the monitoring in the hospital right now. >> i heard people say if you travel a lot you should take the low-dose aspirin is that true? >> baby aspirin. a lot of people take it for all sorts of reasons. >> i like the flavor. >> orange. >> orange flavor. >> and it will keep you healthy. >> whatever works. >> toddler metaphor. >> i am like a big baby. even look like one.

take a good hard look at your last paycheck of 2012, it may shrink. two countdowns under in way this morning. one to the new year, the other is to the painful fall off the fiscal cliff. democrats and republicans went to the bull pen on sunday, calling in their so-called closers. here is one, here is the other. vice president joe biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell. john boehner not in this, nancy pelosi isn't in this, not even the president. the house reconvenes at 10:00, the senate at 11:00, bright and early. sarcastic. neither of them showing particular signs of progress. >> these two worked together in the senate for 20 years. so you hope -- >> in fairness, the houses are not convening. these guys are not working. i don't care if it doesn't play out in the media. the big stumbling block has been avoided. republicans dropped their demand

to reduce social security cost of living increases. >> i was really gratified to hear republicans had taken the demand for social security benefits off the table. truth is, they never should have been on the table to begin with there is still significant distance between the two sides, but negotiations continue. >> the consequences of this are too high for the american people to be engaged in a political messaging campaign. i'm interested in getting a result here. >> they have all been politically messaging, not sure why they are being critical of it now. thousands of there's of your take home pay is on the line. brianna keilar live from washington this morning. this is a key point that the speaker just making. mcconnell and joe biden are talking. when things between mcconnell and reid stopped working, mcconnell, highest ranked republican in the senate, reid

the highest ranking democrat in the senate. we have to believe some work is being done somewhere. >> some of it is being done somewhere. talking to an aide to senator mcconnell, we understand that discussions between biden and mcconnell went into the night so this is something that they are working on, although certainly, yes, it's being left to the last minute and unclear if we'll avert the fiscal cliff. talk to snom senators, and they say we are going over the cliff. some way they think there will be a deal by tonight and a vote by tonight, but the fact is it's very iffy. here is what's not iffy. an incentive if we go over the cliff to get this done. because it is -- both sides have been preparing themselves for the blame game. it is in full swing now. president obama said, basically saying if we go over the cliff, he is really going to take aim at republicans more than he already has. >> they say it. their biggest priority is making

sure that we deal with the deficit in a serious way. the way they are behaving, their only priority is making sure tax breaks for the wealthiest americans are protected. seems to be their only overriding unifying theme. >> now, ali, a poll shows republicans will bear more of the blame in this if we do go over the cliff. but the incentive to do something continues even if we go over the cliff. the expectation is come midnight tonight, this is not resolved, even if there isn't some sort of deal, a framework, there is still going to be work done and still be members of congress and the white house trying to wrap this up here in the next few days. >> polls show not only republicans will get the blame and the country supports the president by 2/3 in raising the taxes on the rich. in 20 years if we go over the cliff, you won't remember the name of the speaker of the house or senate majority leader who is responsible. you will remember the name of

the president your honor whom it happened. it's probably important to remind viewers, christine, there are people in america, elected people who feel we should go over the cliff. >> and some, for example, howard de dean, who says how else will you cut a defense budget going up 30 years? it does give you paydown on the debt and deficit. gives the president some leverage in the first time. people in the middle class hurting, it gives the president leverage. >> not everyone is moving toward a solution. >> but most are. i want to bring in a reporter from "the national journal" he has been working the story all night, and a very slim minority of people think it would be a good thing to gefr on the fiscal cliff. there are hundreds of billions of dollars of economic activity from early tax refunds that you might not get in the economy in the early part of the first quarter, because people won't get the early refunds because

it's a mess there what are you hearing about how close we are, how far away from a deal we are right now? >> certainly the negotiations that have happened through the night continue to the morning. before i came on with you, i conversed with an aide to senator mcconnell. we won't know anything until senate republicans get to talk. we are still hours away from that, washington woke up this morning with no deal. we're only 17 hours away and like a bunch of kids in college, kraming for their exams, we have a situation where this all nighter is going to come to an enat midnight here, one way or another and we're waiting to see if the closers, biden and mcconnell, can bring something to the floor that could pass sometime today. >> cr >> kraming for the exam, and this exam has questions that are impossible to answer and they wrote the exam in the first

place. john avalon described it like this. a time bomb they set that they are now trying to defuse. >> um-hum. >> we should remind people, congress made this mess and now they are arguing about whether they have a one-week leeway or maybe we have a -- it's -- it's pathetic. >> well, i think that time bomb analogy is a very good one. i likened it often to a slow-moving car wreck. where you are watching it happen, waiting for someone to take the wheel to avert the cliff. democrats and republicans are still far apart on the threshold for who taxes should go up on. democrats have been at 250, but reports yesterday as i was talking to my sources that democrats have moved on that in negotiations with republicans and somewhere to the 350, 360 range and republicans are looking for more around the half million range. so there is still a ways to go

here. we walk into the final hours. there is a question about whether we go over the cliff and we come back after new year's day with the same story being told and the same problem to address. >> we talked to a house congressman who says he's not going to -- he won't vote for a 450 or 550 as the threshold for higher taxes. thank you very much. cliffs, car wrecks, closers. just, you know, send me your analogies and metaphors and none of them good. we'll get republican reaction from jason chaffetz. >> bitter cold stacan't stop th party. >> they can freeze it out. >> about 1 million people expected to brave the subfreezing temperatures in new york times square tonight. countdown, 2013. new zealand, saying hello to 2013. happy new year, auckland welcomed the new year with fireworks at the famous sky

tower. up ahead on "starting point," house speaker john boehner couldn't get republicans to back his plan, even though my next guest said it was okay. can the gop rally his party before we go over the cliff? fwroefer norquist president of americans for tax reform. up next. >>fr progressives don't like grover norquist. now a message to washington. >> this shows how incredibly out of touch you are, are you off in la la land and everybody is saying you are acting like a bunch of spoil brats who are more interested in being wririg than doing the right thing for the people who elected you. tyeah, its the galaxy note ii.re great. you can do two things at the same time. you can watch videos and text.

or you could watch the earnings report and take notes, like we're supposed to. so... can i get it? yeah. okay either of you put together the earnings report yet? yes, me totally. what? why don't you tackle the next quarter. you eat yet? polynesian? pu pu platter? yup! keep up the good work. i will keep up the good work. do more with the new samsung galaxy note ii. i've always kept my eye on her... but with so much health care noise, i didn't always watch out for myself. with unitedhealthcare, i get personalized information and rewards for addressing my health risks. but she's still going to give me a heart attack. that's health in numbers. unitedhealthcare. if by blessed you mean freaked out about money well we suddenly noticed that everything was getting more expensive so we switched to the bargain detergent but i found myself using three times more than you're supposed to and the clothes still weren't as clean as with tide. so we're back to tide. they're cuter in clean clothes. thanks honey yeah you suck at folding

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happy new year! just 17 hours from it every 2013 and the fiscal cliff. congress putting your money at risk. may be a last-minute vote in the senate today. again, that is more than 517 days after they could have fixed the thing to start with. in case you weren't angry yet, president obama sign the executive order that gives

executive worker as a pay raise. won wonders whether congress has earned their raise. grover and i have never agreed on anything rat all except the fact that congressmen shouldn't have had a raise on thursday. good morning, goo to see again. >> good morning. >> you continue to engage in the conversation which i always appreciate. let me ask you this, you don't want taxes going up on anyone. but when things looked like they were aat an impasse and house speaker john boehner, the highest elected in the country. put forward his plan b about a week ago, you read it through, and you said you would be okay with people who had signed this anti tax pledge of yours voting for that bill. voting for an increase of taxes. and you will phrase it differently. voting for something that will allow taxes to go up for those that make more than $1 million a

year. that seems like a sea change. why did you agree to that? >> it wasn't a sea change. this is a written commitment by many congressmen and senators, governors, state legislators, that they'll oppose any and all efforts to raise taxes on the american people. tax reform is fine, but not a net tax increase. what we have going forward is a -- the 2001, 2003 bush tax cuts that almost every democrat voted against. not commented on is the spectacle of the democrats calling over themselves about what a tragedy it would be to have the bush tax cuts, that they opposed and spent ten years trashing, including obama, that if they lapse that would be the end of the world. we're making progress. democrats are defending the bush tax cuts for 98% of the american people. for 100% of the american people, we'll take that 99%, 98% of movement by the democrats toward the taxpayer position. >> get to the point, grover.

i know this argument. >> we don't see it in the established press very often. >> we see you on establishment press pretty often. we spoke on friday afternoon and it was on tv all weekend. the argument that your thoughts don't get out there, all i got were tweets over you being on. >> we are very big on the first amendment at cnn. >> good, look. what we need to do is extend bush era tax cuts for every single american. boehner said let's get that done for 99% americans and he has two points of leverage over the next four years. this fight doesn't end in a week, okay? this is a long-slogging fight. no budget cuts on the table that obama or democrats have put

there. we haven't gotten to the conversation. we should take as many tax cuts off the table as possible and because the republicans have the clout of the debt ceiling increase, which they effectively used a year and a half ago and the continuing resolution, where they can dole out money slowly to obama and the democrats to spend while reining is in. >> i'm not sure how effectively they use it. 517 days ago and that's why we're in the mess we are in. >> i want to show you marginal tax rates around the world. highest tax rate people pay on the marginal money they earn. when we talk about increasing taxes, we talk about increasing it above a threshold. the united states is not the highest on the list. the united kingdom is on this list and this isn't all the countries out there. both canada and germany have higher marginal tax rates than the yits does. germany and canada have borrowing rates about the same as the united states and have higher home ownership rates.

they have health care and education paid for. great life satisfaction in those places and strong economies. what's the argument if we increase the tax rates on the richest americans, we're somehow going to have economic catastrophe. >> ali, as you know when people pay taxes, they not only pay it at the individual level, but capital gains and other taxes, first you earn money and then you invest it in companies and if you take a look at corporate income tax and all of the companies you threw up, the united states has the highest -- >> the united states doesn't have the highest effective corporate tax rate. they have the highest marginal tax rates and most companies as you know, including general electric, the biggest, don't pay any taxes. right? >> the marginal tax rate is the tax rate that matters on the actual dollar earned. when we look at canada, about 17%, the european average 25%, our average is 35, ten points

above the european average, stupider than france is not where we want to be when it comes to how we tax economic activity. add to that, obama not only wants to take the present 35 up to 39.4. he wants to add 3.8% on that for small businesses, subchapter s corporations, there is also a trillion dollars in tax increases that obama care has that begins over the next decade. in addition to -- >> their net -- their net reducers to the deficit over ten years. let me ask you this last question. >> the tax increases that affect people's decisions. >> will you be around and do you expect to be reached out to as a deal is reached to give it a blessing? >> certainly i'm working with all of the fols trying to defend taxpayers here in congress in the house and senate. the leadership of the house have all made the commitment in writing their constituents to oppose all efforts to raise

taxes. i don't think you will see something that actually raises taxes, we may get some tax cuts now and have to fight for others later. watch for the leverage that the republicans have in debt ceiling and the continued resolutions. that allows us to come back and actually fight for spending cuts, but also for further tax reductions. >> grover, good to see you, thank you for being with us. >> good to be with you. >> on the mainstream media. >> the establishment. >> establishment media. thank you. i'm sorry. we will not be dealing with the debt ceiling today or the continuing resolutions. he points out one of the things we have not been successful on in the united states is passing budgets, so we have so-called continuing resolutions which allow government to keep on operating. >> this will go on and on and on. he is right. and we have one deadline after another. this big fight -- congress for ten or 15 years has set us into this frenzy of deadline after deadline after deadline. 11th hour. >> it's not good. if your taxes might go up next

year, what about your fwroshry bill? the deal that could affect milk prices coming up next. you're watching "starting point." ♪

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ahead on "starting point," the latest on the fiscal cliff negotiations. we'll ask one house member if he expects to be voting on a deal today. next, utah congressman jason chaffetz. and is the kardashian clan about to get bigger? the new year's news you had to have. kim and kanye west, they respond to the pregnancy rumors. breaking news, everyone. you're watching "starting point." so i switched my car insurance to state farm... saved $480 bucks. you know what that is? yeah. don't say it. so you know what it is, right? yeah, yeah, don't. that's a lot of dough! ♪ [ male announcer ] switch and you could save $480 bucks with state farm.

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millions of americans counting down to a stifling new year of tax hike. we could be on a painful road, possibly -- not entirely likely -- but possibly toward recession. republicans and democrats returned to their so-called closer, vice president john biden and the leading republican in the senate, mitch mcconnell

to get a back room deal done. no word on any break through. mcconnell isn't waving the white flag yet. >> i'm interested in getting a result here. willing to work with whoever can help. no single issue that remains an impossible sticking point. >> now, according to the white house, there has always been and still is one big sticking point. that is raising taxes on the middle class. the president is already planning his next move in the two sides cannot carve out a compromise. >> the pressure is on congress to produce, if they don't, what i've said is that in the senate we should go ahead and introduce legislation to make sure middle class taxes stay where they are and there should be an up-or-down vote. everyone should have the right to vote on that. if republicans don't like it, they should vote no. >> brianna keilar joins us live from washington. the house and senate reconvene

in a few hours. this is kind of procedural. two options here, one is that the senate, mcconnell and reid, working with biden, come up with a deal and vote on it, and the house of representatives gets that, or option b, which is what the president is talking about, you don't come to you adeel, you take the proposal the president had, and everybody gets to vote on it. >> everybody gets an up-or-down vote. in the senate, the threshold is generally 60 for the procedural vote going into it, that was his point. an up-or-down vote. as of right now, we're not hearing that, and it seems -- that would require the senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, let's it go for simple majority. that is sort of like rolling over and allowing the senate democrats to do whatever they want to do. so as of right now, we're not hearing that. still discussions going on.

hearing all kinds of different things, ali, about whether or not we're going over the cliff. may be a deal by tonight. there may be a vote by tonight, or we're going over the cliff. also some of the things i'm hearing, the deadline as some see it, may not actually be midnight tonight, that there is obviously room to kind of fudge this. it's not like the debt ceiling where the u.s. defaults. this is something where if you go over the cliff, it builds more pressure for congress to do something. but that is not a whole lot of confidence for folks who feel like congress can't get their act together. >> we'll stay on top of this with you, brow anna. joining us is one of the people who will vote on that deal. con man jason chaf fwnch etz, a republican from utah. and a member of the oversight committee. thank you for being with us. what do you think is happening today? >> good morning, happy new year. let's make sure we use your morning voices, because we

wouldn't want the senate to get up too early. they'll reconvene at 11:00. let's be careful here. the ball is in the senate's court. the house of representatives did its job. we passed a bill on august 1st. it extended out every one of the rates and if the president and senate don't like it, it is their responsibility to make an amendment, make the change, have a vote and send it back over to us, we have done our jobs. >> you think you will be voting on a bill today? and, of course, democrats are willing to raise the threshold for raising marginal tax rates to $450,000. mcconnell holding out $550,000 or higher. would you vote on either one of those? >> i have no idea what the senate will come up with. i clipped on my tie, ready to go to work. the senate should have voted back over the summer we had the excuse of the election, and there is no excuse to waiting

until december 31st to do this. i'll consider anything they put out there. but i want to solve the problem, and that's what a lot of us are concerned about. >> house republicans want to solve the problem? a lot of folks would say it's house republicans wouldn't agree to raising taxes on the highest income americans, and that caused the problem. >> absolutely not. we passed out a bill to extent every single one of the rates. i was very supportive of the so-called plan b. under the current law, 00% of americans get a tax increase. i want to minimize that for as many americans as we can. there is another part of the component. which is spending. if we don't get that under control, you never solve the problem. >> here is the thing and we follow this very closely, obviously as you do. some of our viewers don't and worried about what's going to go on and speaking to the entire world right now, going out to everybody in the world that gets cnn at the moment. here is what they don't

understand. you said you were supportive of john boehner's plan b a week ago. which would have raised taxes on people earning above $1 million, only on that amount that was above $1 million. but there are a whole bunch of your own colleagues that wouldn't let that pass. 50 republicans wouldn't vote for that. how is that somebody else's problem? >> democrats can't have it both ways one of the reasons many of my colleagues didn't want to vote on it, harry reid said he wouldn't bring it up for consideration. the democrats can't have it both ways. can't criticize the speaker for not passing the bill. tame saying the president wouldn't veto it. it probably won't pass. the reality is we did pass the bill. on august 1st. done in a bipartisan way, done plenty of time in advance and now it is up for the senate to actually act. that's the way it works. remember that? i'm just a bill on capitol hill?

we pass a bill, it goes to the senate, they have to do their job. they went golfing last week, went on vacation and now not convening until 11:00. >> i am not hearing anything new. here is what's so maddening. i'm hearing us fighting about the same -- >> a lot of it seems procedural at this point which seems annoying. >> can't we be united. when chris van hollen and myself, we are bipartisan in the house in saying the senate has actually got to do their job. i have only been in congress four years, okay? i voted against the things that created this mess. i didn't create this mess, but the united states senate has not passed a budget in four years. they have not even brought a single thing up for vote on this particular vote. come on, the senate has got to do their job. that's how it works around here. >> congressman, good to see you, thank you for joining us. >> happy new year. >> happy deliberations today, and we're pleased to see you as well up good and early. the senate not getting together until 11:00, strikes me as a

little bit late. >> and the congressman says he wears a clippon tie. i get it. nice to see you. >> i don't think he said he had a clip on tie. he put a clip on his tie. secretary of state hilary clinton in the hospital being treated for a blood clot. this discovered in a followup visit following a concussion. she will spend new year's in the hospital. don't forget the dairy cliff. the price of milk could shoot up to $7 in the new year. lawmakers haven't acted on the agriculture bill, including a dairy subsidy for farmers which keeps the price at $3.65. that subsidy expires tomorrow. hundreds of thousands of revelers will brave the bitter, subsqueezie i

subfreezing cold weather to ring in the new year's. alina cho is there. good morning. what's it like around you there? >> well, sanjay, as you know, we last talked about an hour ago. since then, the sun has come up as you can see behind me, and i can tell you with 100% certainty, that the weather has not improved one bit. it is still 30 degrees outside. feels like 25, so the number one tip if you are coming to times square tonight is dress warmly. take a look at my shoulder behind me, my left shoulder, you can see people already lining up, they are in for a long day and a long night. it will be frigidly cold tonight. let's talk about the security. to say that security will be tight is a big understatement. some of the you will see, some you won't. here is what i can tell you, according to the nypd, thousands more police officers on the streets. sharpshooters on rooftops, radiological scanners, explosive teams, firearms and tactics

seams and surveillance cameras everywhere. if you plan to come here tonight, sanjay. know this. don't carry a large bag, backpack or alcohol. you will not be allowed inside the perimeter. get here early. they close the streets at 1:00 p.m. eastern. times square will be packed and hopefully with the security it will be safe. >> i can't believe people are already lined up. that's the entire day. alina stay warm. i will be running tonight. i will do the central park run. at midnight. a run through central park at midnight. you should just be done talking about the central clifsewn fisc. >> you don't have to be naked or in your underwear. i am not running in central park naked. >> that will wipe the fiscal cliff out of your mind. >> wake up, america. that even grossed me out.

it's calm out there now, but it could be another wild night moving ahead. see it all right here on "new year's eve live," with anderson cooper and kathy griffin. >> ali could give kathy a run for her money. >> she's not the only one that can strip on new year's eve. >> ahead on "starting point," a common food that many use to help heart problems, fish oil. may have health benefits that can reverse brain damage too. too incredible stories on that next. and here is a new year's resolution from you for capitol hill. >> my new year's message to washington is that this entire fiscal cliff problem isn't an isolated incident. it's representative of how partisanship and polarization have taken over congress. i'm a teen and go to college in d.c. i used to be excited for the future, but i don't want to live in a country that doesn't have a successful working legislature.

congress, remember your purpose and get back to doing your job. ♪

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i'll tell you about an incredible use for fish oil. the extent to which surprised me. every year, about 1.7 million people in the united states suffer traumatic brain injuries. i see it every day in my line of work, in severe cases, i can tell you there is no drug, no pill, really no intervention that can truly help once that damage has set in. what are you about to see,

though, is two dramatic cases of crippling brain damage that may have, in fact, been reversed biomega 3 fatty acids. the first case, a 17-year-old in a horrible car accident. his car was overturned, he was discovered almost dead. we pick up the story at the hospital, right after that accident. this was the scene. when his parents finally arrived to bobby's bedside. >> you realize that he could be going any time. >> there had been so much bleeding within the brain. his skull could not contain the swelling. every part of his brain was affected. but peter and marjon shrugged off the horror of the situation to fight. >> during the whole time that he was in a coma, you fight your way and you come back to us. >> little did they know that that fight would link them to the sole survivor of an infamous mining disaster.

>> tonight, 13 coal miners trapped nearly 2 miles inside a west virginia mine. >> a few years before bobby's car barrelled off that road, 13 miners huddled together after explosion, as deadly carbon monoxide crept into the space around them. 41 hours later -- >> the only confirmed survivor is randall l. mccloy jr. >> dr. julian bails was randy mccloy's neurosurgeon. >> he had a massive heart attack from carbon monoxide poisoning. kidney failure, liver's failure. >> mccloy's body recovered. but could his brain do the same? could you quantify that someone like randal mccloy would recover and have a meaningful neurological recovery? >> we felt and i think everything since then supports the fact that it was truly a

long shot. >> but bails was con contaconco unorthodox plan to save his brain. high doses of omega 3 fatty acids, fish oil. >> the concept was to rebuild his name when he was in his mother's womb. >> we wanted to make sure we had high levels in the brain. >> ever been done for, to your knowledge? >> no. >> bales was going out on a limb. he a hunch. in other studies, omega 3 seemed to restore balance in the brain, helping some with depression or suicidal thoughts. could an injured brain we similarly restored? if so, how? >> if you have a brick wall and it gets damaged, wouldn't you want to use bricks to repair the wall? and omega 3 fatty acids are literally the bricks of the cell wall in the brain.

>> wow. that's fascinating. so giving them the building blocks, the fatty acids, may be -- after an injury, replacing something that's missing. >> that's exactly right. what's surprising is that very few substances can do that. you are talking about something that can get into the brain. hard to get across the blood/brain barrier. those building blocks also a very potent anti-inflammatory, this thing -- inflammation can be a big problem. those are striking stories. those people were not expected to recover. >> sounds like a miracle. how widely is this used? and why is it not used more widely? >> are you hearing about it at the nacent stages. >> that 17-year-old walked at graduation. his parents thought he was dead. it's remarkable. >> sounds so simple. fish oil. >> that sometimes gets in the way. things that are simple, people think it can't be that easy, but it possibly could be. more studies are needed.

>> really interesting. ahead on "starting point," what were the top internet searches and videos of 2012. you might be surprised by google's top five. you're watching "starting point." emax everything you can fit in this bag is 20% off. saving 20% on everything your company needs. it's a big deal. check your december 30th sunday paper or print the coupon at officemax.com. check for more! well, i guess i can double check... my watch! [ male announcer ] it pays to double check, with state farm.

here's a question for you. what did you google this past year? google is revealing its top trends of 2012, analyzing 1.2 trillion searches in 146 languages. two top events of the year, the election and superstorm sandy, they're in the top five. some others maybe less predictable to you. and we've also got the most watched videos of the year, including the first ever video to pass the 1 billion mark. kevin alaka is the trends manager at youtube, where he tracks popular video phenomena and gets to watch a lot of youtube videos for a living. thanks for joining us. >> thanks for having me. >> some of these are a little surprising to people. first of all, with regard to google searches, those are u.s.-based searches. >> we analyzed 1 trillion searches from all over the world, and we made different lists of interesting thipgs. the ones we're going to talk

about today are the ones from the united states. >> so let's talk about them. this is what you do for a living. what are some of the things that may have surprised you? >> when we're talking about searches, whitney houston was number one for us. >> we have a list of all of them. >> when you look across all of them, people is such an important thing for us. we're very curious about all these interesting stories of all these people of the whitney houston story, so many people had such a connection to her, that one took the top for that reason. also on the list of searches, jeremy lin was number five for us. the linsanity, you'll remember that from earlier in the year. he was the biggest athlete search of the year. and the two big events for google searches, we had the election. that was a big thing. people looking for information about the candidates. and you also had superstorm sandy, people looking for information about the storm and the aftermath. >> in those cases, a little bit of a public service, at least with the storm. that's interesting. imagine something like what happened with whitney houston, a very intense search for a period

of time, and then it tapers off. are there certain categories of search that are just more popular overall? >> i definitely think people and celebrities are always very, very popular searches, sports and athletes. there are other searches that are sort of consistent throughout the year, but the ones that spike like this are these very compelling stories. >> let's talk about some of the videos. it's interesting because i do this all the time now as well. and i have young children, so they're doing it more and more. a couple of them -- i think a couple of people saw themselves. we're going to talk about ones that passed the 1 billion mark, but "call me maybe." what do you attribute that phenom too? >> that was interesting to watch it play out. it was the spring, the summer, the fall. what kicked is off is you have this video where justin bieber and selena gomez made their homemade video for the song. it kicked off hundreds of thousands of homemade music videos. athletes making them, random

fans making them, and it created an entire cultural fe fom none around it. >> you've got a video that passed the billion mark. >> gangnam style. >> again, i've seen it several times. what does that mean for youtube overall? when you start to talk about these sorts of numbers, talk about the presence in terms of youtube's trajectory. >> we've never had a video cross the 1 billion mark, and it's interesting this video did it. one thing people don't realize about youtube is it's a global platform. 70% of our views come from outside the united states. and this was a song that was literally a global phenomenon. it came to us from korea, spread through europe, the united states, south america. i've seen videos from people all over the world doing the dance. it really created something that was at a global style. this is one of the things that is happening on youtube. we're seeing that more and more over time. >> we're talking about international. how's the fiscal cliff doing in

terms of internet searches? >> not as many compelling searches about the fiscal cliff. >> happy new year. >> thank you. appreciate it. >> that's how we become famous, make a compelling fiscal cliff video. gangnam style. >> ahead on "starting point," a health scare for hillary clinton. the secretary of state is in the hospital being treated for a blood clot. the latest on her condition in a moment. >> and 16 hours and counting until the fiscal cliff free fall. can they possibly get something done?

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hillary clinton hospitalized for a blood clot. we'll have the latest on her condition in a live report. 16 hours before we go over the fiscal cliff. negotiations have stalled. when congress meets this morning, can they get a hail mary deal? >> if we go over the cliff, you're going to feel it right away. what happens to your paycheck and when just ahead. >> good morning. i'm ali velshi. >> and i'm christine romans. >> and i'm sanjay gupta. good morning. soledad is off. it's monday, december 31st, 2012. our starting point this morning, hillary clinton expected to ring in the new year from a hospital bed. secretary of state was admitted to a new york city hospital because of a blood clot.

it was discovered while doctors were performing a follow-up exam they say was related to her concussion. the state department says clinton suffered that concussion earlier this month. the location of the clot has not yet been disclosed to us. doctors are closely monitoring mrs. clinton. cnn's jill dougherty is live in our washington bureau. jill, you and i have been talking closely this morning, but have you learned any more about her condition or anything from her doctors? >> reporter: no, we've been asking, but so far no updates. the state department had a statement sunday night. we're hoping we'll get something new. at this point, it would appear they're really just watching very carefully to see how those anti- anti-coagulants, what kind of effect they have on her. it's been a rough couple of weeks, first the flu, and then the concussion, and now this. it's especially worrisome when you have a secretary of state who's traveled now almost 1 million miles by air, and

they've put that on hold, any type of travel on hold for at least another couple of weeks. right now i can't imagine that she is going to be doing much of anything travel-wise. the big issue for the secretary, when she came back -- she was supposed to come back -- was the hearing, a couple of hearings on capitol hill about benghazi, and the state department said she was looking forward to testifying, but even that, you can't guarantee that will happen any time soon. >> it's very hard to keep her sort of down as well. she likes to move around, as you point out, jill. thanks so much. appreciate it. >> she's been traveling like crazy for the past -- like 100 countries. >> i think the most traveled secretary of state in history. >> when you say a person developed a blood clot related to a concussion, the first thought is the clot would form in the brain, but she's being treated with anti-coagulants, which would suggest otherwise. >> i think that statement is misworded is my guess. i think they're probably going

to modify that. when you treat a blood clot with blood thinners, you're tryinto break up the clot. you don't want to do that if the clot is on top of the brain. that could worsen the bleeding. also, you if you want to perform surgery, you couldn't do that. it could be veins in the leg, could be veins around the brain, but not on the brain itself. >> we should reiterate, they're not telling us where. >> they wouldn't disclose that. >> we know she had a concussion. some people are conflating the two, maybe a blood clot somewhere else. if it is in the legs, it may be related to all of her travel. for folks who have that, tell me how that works. once it happens, you're stuck with it, and you have to treat it. or can it go away? if knowing's gone wrong for a few months, you're not going to have it. >> the concern is while that blood clot may not cause you any pain or symptoms whatsoever, it could break off, and if it breaks off, it could travel through the body and end up in the lungs. that's something you obviously want to avoid. she's had this before as well,

ali. she had this before in '98. she's been through it. it's one of the most frightening medical experiences. the concussion itself, they told her to take it easy, be at ries. it's not the same as being on a plane, but that also could put her at higher risk for these blood clots. wish her well. new this hour, cnn has learned that democrats are willing to raise the threshold for tax increases to $450,000 in the fiscal cliff showdown. this offer was made to republicans over the weekend. this is the final day of the fiscal cliff countdown. the possibility of tax hikes, spending cuts, and a recession all looming at midnight. democrats and republicans turning to their so-called closers to cut a compromise deal. vice president joe biden, senate minority leader mitch mcconnell working behind closed doors, two men who have worked together for 20 years. the ho use and senate back in session in just a few hours. we're not seeing much progress. one significant stumbling block has been sidestepped. republicans reported dropping their demand to slash social

security cost of living increases, the chain cpi that had been briefly on the table. what are the chances we'll get the deal done today? let's listen to republican congressman jason chaffetz earlier on "starting point." >> the united states senate hasn't passed a budge net four years. they have not brought up a single thing for vote on this particular bill. come on, the senate has got to do their job. that's how it works around here. >> more of the same old blame game. senators telling us it's the house. house telling us it's senators. >> republicans saying it's democrats, democrats saying it's republicans. >> hold on to your wallets because it's thousands of dollars of your take home pay at risk. u.s. economy on the line this morning. white house correspondent brianna keilar live from washington. on one hand, we're mad at everybody. congress is showing up at 10:00. senate is getting in at 11:00. they were all carrying on about how hard they had to work over the weekend. give me a break. they've known about this for 517

days. that said, brianna, let's be fair. stuff is going on, right? >> reporter: we know the discussions between vice president biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell went into the evening. so they had some late hours definitely. this is coming up here to the last minute. it's feeling a little bit like hail mary if something gets done. we think there will be a deal. some say they think there will be a vote. some say they think we're going over the cliff. listening to president obama in a rare sunday show interview yesterday, he's obviously making it known, if we do go over the cliff, he is prepared to point the finger at republicans. here's what he said. >> all right. so we're struggling to bring you

that sound, but basically he was saying that republicans are trying to protect the wealthy when it comes to taxes. and to that point, ali, we do have new information about where the proposal stands at this point according to democratic sources. they have actually gone up to saying $450,000, the first $450,000 of income, that would be protected from a tax increase. so that's higher, obviously, than what the president's starting point was, which was $250,000, and even higher than where he ended in his sort of discussions with speaker boehner about a larger deal. he was at 400 there. obviously, republicans want higher than that. we'll see where that number comes out. >> it's valid to say something's happening. in other words, that at least gives you some sense of negotiation, which is a good thing. >> reporter: that's right. things haven't -- we've had moments here where there's a complete impasse, no one's talking, people are throwing their hands up in the air. people are talking at this

point, but it's still really unclear and very, it seems, even unlikely that that's going to be enough to necessarily avert going over the fiscal cliff, at least for a short period of time. >> brianna, thanks very much. we'll get back to you. let's bring in maryland congressman chris van holland, the ranking member on the house budget committee, very, very central to this discussion. representative van holland, good to see you. >> good to be with you. >> we've interviewed a number of your colleagues and will continue to do so during the course of the day until we get some settlement to this thing. >> or until we pull our hair out. >> until christine pulls her hair out. that's not an option for me. we're hearing the house passed a bill in july. the senate passed a bill in august. they won't do this. the president won't do that. nobody cares anymore. truly nobody cares. i think you know that. >> yeah. >> what we care about is there are 535 elected people in washington who have the ability not to derail an otherwise moving u.s. economy.

what is your take on how this plays out today? >> that's why, ali, i think there is good news. the conversations continued late into the night last night. i think now there's a better than 50-50 chance we will avoid the fiscal cliff by midnight tonight. as you reported, there's important new details. everyone's focused on trying to get the job done. one big question, of course, is whether an agreement put together by the senators on a bipartisan basis, whether that can pass the house of representatives. it is a fact that speaker boehner couldn't get his own colleagues in the house to support a proposal that asked people making over $1 million to pay a little more. he couldn't even bring that to the floor. it is a very open question about whether or not something put together in the senate would be able to get enough votes in the house. first things first, let's first see if they can get an agreement in the senate. >> congressman, let's talk about it. you said important new details this morning.

let's bring people up to speed about what is new in the democrat position here on what you would accept for a fiscal cliff deal in terms of tax rates. $450,000, higher taxes on everyone making $450,000 and up. >> i don't want to get into all the details. i know that's where the reporting is right now. as you know, and brianna just reported, the president had agreed to a $400,000 income threshold as part of a larger agreement. we're now talking about a smaller agreement, which is why the president originally said we should go back to the $250,000 threshold. as you reported, there's been a lot of flexibility on the democratic side on that issue, and now we're waiting for additional flexibility on the republican side. there are other elements that are part of this discussion. whether or not we can also deal with the sequester. >> chain cpi is off. tell us some of the other elements on the way. we hear from republicans, all you guys care about is raising

taxes on job creators, and you're not willing to cut any spending. tell me what the other things are that are on the table here, what this might look like for us. >> just on that point, as you know, the president had proposed a very large agreement that included $1.2 trillion in spending cuts on top of the more than $1 trillion in cuts we already had. that's a fact of his proposal. he wanted that matched originally by $1.2 trillion in revenue. now we're talking about a lot less revenue because republicans continue to focus on trying to reduce the input, the contribution from higher income individuals. but with respect to the remaining pieces right now, we would like to be able to deal with the sequester part of the fiscal cliff. we've been talking just now, of course, about the tax piece. there are also these across the board cuts. we would like to find a way to buy them down. not to kick the can down the road, but to find an alternative set of deficit reduction to reduce these meat ax across the

board cuts. that remains part of the conversation. >> and what happens right now? you in congress are going into session at 10:00. the senate at 11:00. if you're waiting for the senate, what do you guys do all day? is >> well, we're obviously keeping in touch with our colleagues in the senate and the white house with respect to the negotiations because, as i indicated, whatever comes out of the senate has to pass the house, and it's going to have to pass the house with democratic and republican votes. some combination of both to get a bipartisan majority. and so while the negotiations right now are, of course, happening in the senate and with the white house, the reality is that they're going to have to put together, as we said, the majority in the house. so we are continuing to provide input into those discussions to try to make sure there's no miscalculation. to try and make sure that whatever emerges from the senate can indeed get a majority in the house. >> chris van hol len, great to see you.

we really hope our next conversation with you has good news in it. >> me too. a quick check of the top stories. new poll numbers might give secretary of state hillary clinton a little lift while she recovers from treatment from the blood clot. she tops the list of 2016 democratic hopefuls. 85% of democrats and independents who lean toward the democratic party say they'd be very or somewhat likely to support her if she seeks the democratic nomination, compared to 66% for vice president joe biden. on the republican side, in case you're curious, 75% say they'd be likely to support paul ryan in 2016 compared to 59% for new jersey governor chris christie. president obama plans to send congress gun control legislation that deals with background checks on gun sales. he's prompted by the massacre in newtown, connecticut, that killed 20 children and 6 adults. speaking yesterday on "meet the press," the president said

something fundamently has to change in this country. the newtown deaths can't become a routine thing. >> that was the worst day in my presidency, and that's not something i want to see repeated. >> joe biden will head a task force that will submit proposals to the president in january. coming up, roses. the finishing touches being put on the floats for tomorrow's 120th tournament of roses in pasadena. the rose bowl later is going to feature stanford and wisconsin. i hoped it would be michigan. wisconsin will have to do. fireworks lit up sydney harbor, beautiful, as people down under mark 2013. happy new year. city officials were expecting as many as 1.5 million people to crowd the waterfront and watch the skylight up. and christine's favorite story of the day. breaking news. >> reality star kim kardashian and rapper kanye west, they're expecting. >> expecting what, a raise? free publicity? >> fiscal cliff. >> they confirmed baby news.

i guess west announced it at a concert, and now kardashian has confirmed it. there you go. she's still married, by the way -- she's filed for divorce but still married. 72 days after they tied the knot, she filed for divorce from kris humphreys. >> scandalous. i'm very into this fiscal cliff thing. i haven't been following other popular news. but after today, i'm going to be so up on the kardashians. once we settle this fiscal cliff thing, which we're going to do. >> two words you don't hear together, sanjay gupta, and the kardashian update. >> we're keeping a close eye on washington and the fiscal cliff, which is why i didn't know about the kardashian-kanye thing. we're going to talk to chris from the national journal working his sources. and now a new year's eve resolution for washington from you. >> my message to all of washington for the new year is

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good morning. 18 minutes past the hour. welcome back to "starting point." unless congress gets its act together soon, america faces a fall off the fiscal cliff. cnn has just learned democrats are now willing to compromise on the tax threshold. they're now willing to raise taxes on incomes over $450,000 instead of $250,000. while the two sides have called in their so-called closers to work behind the scenes -- vice president biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell -- they're not offering much hope for an 11th hour fix. let's bring in chris, our reporter from the national

journal, working the story on capitol hill all night and into the morning. what's new in the developments here that makes us think we're any closer to stopping the fiscal cliff? >> when you guys came in, i thought your bumper music might be "final countdown" as we get near the cliff. what's new from what i have learned since talking to some senate aides before coming on with you guys is that there's no deal yet, but republicans are going to huddle here later this morning, and that indicates to me with some of the news coming out of here that democrats moved to 4:30 that mitch mcconnell may be shopping something to his members behind closed doors. leaders are always very, very slow to leak anything to the media before the members can get the heads up and get on board. we are seeing some movement today that may be something that both sides can take back and shop to their respective caucuses. >> so you've got the senate, you've got the house.

we've been hearing this bickering about who hasn't done what when. if something is -- if a deal is born in the senate today, how does john boehner, the speaker of the house, get it through republicans on the house side and make it happen? >> remember if a deal ge through the senate, that gives a lot of house republicans some cover because it will be bipartisan deal that passes senate. and you would assume that, if it did pass the senate, it would have democratic support and backing of the white house, and that gives democrats in the house the ability to come forward and vote for this. and certainly nobody expects john boehner to get his entire caucus on board with this. he needs to bring a majority of those folks. when i talk to hill aides on the house side, probably about 100, 120 republicans need to get onto this thing, and the rest would pass with democratic support. so that is the calculus right now if something were to go from the senate to the house. >> one of those rare days, chris, where the party hats and

champagne corks aren't for new year's eve, they'll be for a deal. and the ball dropping metaphor isn't about new year's eve either, it's about your leaders. nice to see you. happy new year. >> happy new year. we'll see you here maybe late tonight. >> why say happy new year? we'll all be hanging out together for many more hours together. i'm glad he said they're'shoing around something. i almost don't want to talk to any more people about this in washington because they keep telling me the same thing. i've heard the same thing nine times this morning. >> i think there are insiders who are doing the hard work, and a lot of other people watching around on the edges, like we are. >> we're going to get hold of some of those insiders shortly. just ahead on "starting point," if we go over the fiscal cliff, it won't affect just the united states. what does it do to america's global standing and the rest of the world's economy? next.

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welcome back to "starting point." minding your business, the world is watching closely, very closely this morning because, if the united states goes off the fiscal cliff at the stroke of midnight, it will have a chilling effect on the global economy, not just on american taxpayers. let's bring in richard quest live from london. he's the host of "quest means business." richard, what is the word looking for today? because they're probably not as concentrated on the minutia of whether it's the house or the senate or this one or that one. what are they looking for? >> they're looking for a deal to be done that averts the worst effects of the fiscal cliff. always remembering that there will be some form of spending cuts and tax rises in the united states. but nothing like the grinding austerity that would be imposed

on the u.s., and by definition and extension, the rest of the world, if the u.s. goes over the cliff. put it in context. this year the eurozone is in recession. next year recessions likely, growth just about possible. in that scenario for the largest trading partner to have a fiscal retrencherant, a slowdown of the magnitude of the cliff, ali, is pretty dramatic and drastic for everybody else watching. >> richard, there's a chance there could be a boomerang effect. the united states may grow, let's say 3% for argument's sake in 2013. that is going to be healthier than europe by a long shot, and we're seeing slowing in a lot of other major economies, including china, india, brazil. is there some sense that, just like the u.s. set off all of this nonsense back in 2008, a u.s. retrenchment, as you call it, a slowdown in growth caused by the fiscal cliff, could boomerang around the world and

actually push the united states further back? >> there's no question. a self-defeating, downward spiral would begin if the worst effects of the fiscal cliff come into effect, and they're not reversed. and you don't even have to wait for the full magnitude which would, as you rightly know, ali, it's not a cliff, it's a slope. it's an ever-increasing slope over several months. you don't even have to wait long. you've only got to see what would happen when the social security withholdings start increasing, the withholding tax starts to move up. then you see that boomeranging effect we talked about. >> you and i have made fun of a lot of the europeans who have not been able to get their act together. when you look at the united states, who's messing it up more? >> it is -- i can only tell you, from listening to morning to the commentaries on british radio and reading the british papers, it's mind boggling. people are absolutely stunned at

the inability of the u.s. to do a deal. and here's one point about this, ali. i was just looking back, doing my own research. we knew about this fiscal cliff, and we knew about the magnitude of it. i saw one article back in july the 9th of 2012. so anybody who says this has just happened a week yesterday has clearly been lying in a darkened room. >> you and i will be spending a lot of time together, richard. thanks very much. richard quest of "quest means business." just ahead on "starting point," senators are meeting in a few hours on the fiscal cliff. will there be a vote? and a high speed chase caught on camera. what led to this chaos?

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here in the uae, the tradition begins with a bang. happy new year from cnn abu dhabi. it's now just over 15 hours

before the u.s. falls over the fiscal cliff, and that could put us on a painful road back to a recession. we are hearing this morning that democrats have offered a compromise over the weekend, raise the tax hike threshold from $250,000 to $450,000. yesterday democrats and republicans turned to their so-called closers, vice president joe biden and senate minority leader mitch mcconnell, to get a behind the scenes deal done. there is no word of a breakthrough, but we understand those negotiations went on late into the night. earlier on "starting point," here's how maryland's democratic congressman chris van hollen characterized the odds of getting a fiscal cliff deal done before midnight. >> i think there is some good news. the conversations continued late into the night last night. i think now there's a better than 50-50 chance we will avoid the fiscal cliff by midnight tonight. one big question, of course, is whether an agreement put together by the senators on a

bipartisan basis, whether that can pass the house of representatives. >> senator johnny isakson is a republican from georgia. senator isakson has said, in the absence of an agreement, he would vote for a bill that would make the bush tax cut permanent for families making under $250,000. welcome to the program. characterize for me where we stand right now. >> i think we stand close to a deal. first of all, i'm not sure we have the inside information, but i do believe the revenue issue is no longer a question. the question is making sure any new revenues go to debt spending reduction and deficit relief rather than new spending. it's deficits that got us into this problem. it's only reducing deficits that get us out of this problem. >> senator, just to be clear, this reporting the democrats have offered, $450,000, your best information is that that has been accepted? >> no, that's not my best information, but it's my best

belief that they've reached an agreement on revenues. what that level is, i don't know, but the question now is where those revenues go. if they go to new spending, we're going to have a problem making a deal because spending has been our problem. but if they go towards deficit reduction, which ultimately will be debt relief, that will be a good thing, and we probably will have a deal. >> senator, let's talk about the process very quickly. we are told the senate will come back into session at 11:00 this morning. that somehow reflects on the fact that seems to be a late start to the working day, but there's work being done right now. tell me what that work is. >> you know, any time you're putting a deal together, it's always the details that will kill you, and you have to get the details done. there's a lot of back room operation going right now, making sure all the i's get dotted and the t's get crossed. i'm sure a final deal hasn't been agreed to, but as long as mitch mcconnell and joe biden are talking -- remember they're

the two that made it possible to get the last deal done. so we've got our best two negotiators at the table. >> last month the markets were down 2% in stocks after what's been a pretty good year. and let me be honest. that's a surprise to me because of all the uncertainty the fiscal cliff has wrought in the economy. here's an interesting comment from senator tim johnson, your colleague, a democrat. sometimes all the market takes is to make them see the light. that is via politico. if you don't get a deal and the markets are closed tomorrow, and you open to a couple of really big down days, is that all it takes to strike a deal? >> i hope not. hopefully congress has learned what failure to strike a deal can mean to the american economy. >> is that thought still fresh? >> it's fresh in our mind.

i remember the deal we had to pass on t.a.r.p. to help our financial markets. i don't want to revisit that again. >> we've heard all kinds of stuff this morning. as you noi, senator, you probably hear this from your constituents, they're so disinterested in the process, they're so disinterested in the sausage being made. what they want to know if that there are like minded, good, smart people in that congress we're looking at right now who all have phones and blackberrys and actually work in the same building. is there enough good will to ensure that a deal gets done today? >> we've got to stop pointing fingers at each other and start looking at the american people because it's their lives and their money we're paying for. just to throw back to the last segment, we need a little more omega-3 in washington and little less partisanship. >> throwing back to the last segment. there's a bunch of patches we do every single year. doctors are freaking out about this because there's a 20% pay

cut coming. what about these other things besides just taxes? how much of this do you think are going to get fixed today? tax cuts, spending, unemployment benefits, dock fix. there's a lot of stuff that's hanging. that's why it's called a cliff. >> there will be temporary patches, i'm sure. this is not going to be a macro deal. this is probably going to be a micro deal. we'll be back at work, when we come back after swearing in, working on those items. >> do you get some sense that -- look, today's the day that we actually officially hit the debt ceiling in the united states. $16.4 trillion. treasury says they can move things around, about $200 billion worth of payments, around probably for the next few weeks or so. is this going to become another battle of the wills, or do you think we'll have any movement on that in today's discussions? >> this is the truth. i know the miracle of compound interest. we're at equal gdp and debt right now.

if we continue to borrow and go past our gdp and go into a negative balance sheet, we're going to compound our debt, not compound our earnings, and america is not going to be the country you and i have loved for centuries. >> congressman, moment of truth. i agree with that. >> senator isakson, thank you for joining us. as we have for all of your colleagues, we wish you good deliberation today. senator johnny isakson, a republican from georgia and a member of the foreign relations committee. >> i'm glad to hear the memory of t.a.r.p. is fresh. in 2008 they didn't passa bank bailout, and it was really chaotic. >> and the dow dropped 777 points. by friday congress had a real. >> this week smart is the new rich. what else? preparing for the fiscal cliff because smart is the new rich. by now, it's pretty much certain your taxes are going up. your taxes are going up. we asked tax and personal finance expert john lib lieberman what he's telling his clients to do to brace for

impact. >> you're going to have to start making adjustments now on a week to week basis because withholding is taken out on a week by week basis. if your taxes go up by $200. that's $4 a week. so you buy one less starbucks, or you decide to defer that doughnut. >> you really do have to adjust the budget. lieberman also says the smart thing to do is plan for the worst, hope for the best. that means we will go over the cliff, and congress will do nothing to reverse the effects. for middle income folks, you'll owe an extra $2,000 to uncle sam. folks making more than $108,000 a year, you'll owe more than $13,000 more a year. lieberman says fiscal uncertainty has put the brakes on those decisions. it's already affecting the economy. we learned confidence was at a four-year high in october, and it's plunged this month. congress has forced all of us to begin planning for the worst.

>> 40 minutes after the hour. time to check top stories. venezuelan president hugo chavez is said to be suffering from complications following cancer surgery in cuba. they characterize chavez's health as delicate because of a respiratory infection. it's not clear whether the venezuelan leader will be able to return to his country for the start of his new six-year term scheduled to start on january 10th. the second of two volunteer firefighters killed in an ambush on christmas eve will be laid to rest. 19-year-old thomas kaczowka will be laid to rest today. yesterday firefighters from all over the country as far as away as california, came to attend the funal of 19-year-old michael chapersky. a woman charged with murder as a hate crime. police say menendez has hated

muslims and hindus since 9/11, and told them she pushed 46-year-old immigrant to his death because, quote, she thought it would be cool. a 21-year-old iowa man in big trouble. he was wanted for questioning in a robbery. instead, he led police on a high speed chase through the streets of des moines. police say he reached speeds of 100 miles an hour as he weaved through traffic. >> that says ankanie, which is a little outside des moines. >> she knows iowa. he collided with another vehicle. thankfully, no one was injured. >> people in des moines would never do that. a chicago couple parents for the second time. daughter macy carolyn martinez didn't come into the world in a hospital. she was born on the side of a highway before mom could make it to the maternity ward. >> i used to make fun of people that had babies on the side of the road because i couldn't understand how you didn't make it to the hospital in time, but

after yesterday, now i understand how that truly does happen. >> that actually happened to my wife. she was born in a car. >> she was? >> she was. >> really? >> she was. this story has a second part as well, by the way. the baby was born with her umbilical cord actually wrapped around her neck, and she wasn't breathing. fortunately, dad is an illinois state trooper trained to deal with such an emergency. he was the mvp after the vip. >> and sanjay passed out when his daughter was born in the car. no. >> that's a good story. just ahead on "starting point," the world has already started ringing in the new year. the big party tonight in times square. we'll bring you live preparations for the famous ball drop. you are watching "starting point" on cnn. aww man. [ male announcer ] returns are easy with free pickup from the u.s. postal service. we'll even drop off boxes if you need them. visit usps.com pay, print, and have it picked up for free. any time of year. ♪

nice sweater. thank you. ♪ thank you. excuse me, sir i'm gonna have to ask you to power down your little word game. i think your friends will understand. oh no, it's actually my geico app...see? ...i just uh paid my bill. did you really? from the plane? yeah, i can manage my policy, get roadside assistance, pretty much access geico 24/7. sounds a little too good to be true sir. i'll believe that when pigs fly. ok, did she seriously just say that? geico. just click away with our free mobile app. [heart beating] [heartbeat continues] [heartbeat, music playing louder] ♪ i'm feeling better since you know me... ♪

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people are going to brave the subfreezing cold tonight, these temperatures to ring in 2013 in times square. going to be an amazing spectacle. alina cho is already there as preparations for the party kick

into high gear. a lot of people expected there, alina, very cold temperatures. what are you seeing? do you think people are ready? >> reporter: people are already lined up, sanjay. they're in for a long day and a long night because for all of the talk about the crystal ball and the confetti and new year's resolutions, here's what you really need to know if you plan to come to times square, dress warmly. it is going to feel like it's below freezing tonight when that crystal ball drops at the stroke of midnight. joining me now to talk a little bit more about this is tim tomkins, the president of the times square alliance. tim, thank you for joining us. tell me, besides dressing warmly, what else do people need to know if they plan to come here tonight. >> they need to know that they need to come here and not bring a bag because the police will slow them down, just to keep it simple and be ready for a night of great entertainment. >> reporter: and come early, right? what goes into planning the world's biggest new year's eve party? >> it's really checking that everything's coordinated and everything's working because, when you have a billion people watching, you really don't want

to mess it up. >> reporter: you had a great reference to the fiscal cliff. >> sorry. >> jimmy kimmel, he's assaulting me. help! >> reporter: we obviously have a little distraction here. thank you very much, tim tomkins. hopefully that won't be a distraction tonight. i can tell you, in my nearly nine years at cnn, that has never happened to me. but one thing i do want to point out before i let you go -- [ screaming ] >> reporter: it just won't stop. one thing that i want to tell you, that i want to get in before i let you go, 26% of -- [ screaming ] >> does he have a microphone, alina? >> reporter: back to you guys. >> alina, we're going to let you go. we don't have a jimmy kimmel fan. >> what's he yelling? something about jimmy kimmel? >> i don't know. >> that guy's got a voice.

we need to hire him. >> the lehman brothers failed, and two guys started kissing. remember? >> i remember that very clearly. >> to describe them as kissing would be an understatement. amorous. >> i think they were howard stern people. >> they were doing more than kissing. >> now we're going to talk about stripping. >> she's stripped down to her underwear. she's thrown things at the jonas brothers. what does kathy griffin have in store for tonight? i sat down with this comedienne and our own anderson cooper, and i was blushing within five seconds. i've got the word on their new year's eve special. watch out, taylor swift. ame you. you tell us the price you want to pay, and we give you a range of options to choose from. careful, though -- that kind of power can go to your head. that explains a lot. yo, buddy! i got this. gimme one, gimme one, gimme one! the power of the "name your price" tool. only from progressive.

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they're back. anderson cooper and kathy griffin are getting their celebration on. this is year number six. every year kathy manages to surprise anderson. last year when she stripped down to her underwear. what surprises are in store this time? anderson and kathy join us now. do you stay up at night, kathy, thinking, dreaming of ways to make him sweat or giggle that little anderson cooper giggle? >> first of all, where are you, and who's soledad? >> soledad is taking a much

needed day off. >> you're not black in america. you're not latina in america. >> i'm so iowa. there's a palace coup, and i'm here but only for today. my dear, do you stay up at night wondering how to make him giggle? >> i have many, many things up my sleeve, which i don't feel anderson needs to know about. >> it's like a wizard's sleeve. >> anderson, tell christine about the typical conversation we have the day before where you call me in my hotel and usually start with like, oh, and then you basically say what? >> i don't know what you're referring to. >> first of all, either you're scared of ryan seacrest pause you're saying, ryan seacrest called me. did he call you? what does he want? that's happened. >> what do you have up your sleeve this year? you can't swear. you've already taken off your clothes. one year you even threw stuff at the jonas brothers. we have a clip of you pelting these young men. listen. >> i'm glad you have that. >> let's throw stuff at the jonas brothers.

they're frauds. >> you can't do that. you just threw something at the jonas brothers. >> yeah, i did. i'm going to throw a rock at them if i can. that's how i roll. >> they're going to remove you from the stage. what are their names? go ahead. >> i don't know their names. >> herb. >> is it really herb? >> francis and lefty. i don't know. >> anderson has already prevented you from throwing money into the crowd. anderson, how are you going to hold her back? >> last year we had a sign saying no nudity that we had underneath the camera, and that didn't stop her. >> wholly unnecessary. >> it was completely necessary. >> this year i'm going to get the purity rings off those jonas brothers because they're a little expired, if you know what i'm saying. >> anderson, this is the sixth year with her, ten years all together. you could just go to a beach. >> anderson so goes to a beach in his head. trust me, he goes to a safe place all the time. >> i'm like rocking back and forth. i'm in a safe place in my head. i don't even know half of what

she's saying. >> i really think you should tell christine, anderson, all the detailed planning that you put into new year's. >> you just show up, don't you, a.c.? >> i do. i just show up. >> and then you watch the tape. you show up and say you don't watch the tape. >> you can plan lots of stuff, but kathy's going to do what kathy's going to do. more of it is in response and try to mitigate the damage and apologize to those she hurts slash insults slash molests. >> taylor swift has it coming. her whiny songs and this boyfriend dumped me. >> i love taylor swift. >> oh, good, i'm going to rip her wig off. you heard me. i'm not done until i rip off taylor swift's wig. >> i'm not soledad o'brien. you're right. the resemblance is striking. i'm not soledad o'brien, kathy. >> where is carol costello when i need her? >> i know she's in hot-lanta. listen, what do you have to say to our morning audience? you poeople are night owls.

you're tuning in at 6:00 a.m. >> most people watching the show are coming back from clubs right now. they're actually very night owls. >> that's actually our demographic. >> the clubgoers. >> they started their evening at midnight, and they're just going to bed as you guys start your show. by the way, i didn't even know you had a show. so congratulations. >> they're very serotonin depleted and just about to go to bed. >> last question. when he's out there in the middle of nowhere in a scary story, what do you think when you see your friend out there, kathy? >> i think he should tell you what i do to comfort him as a good and loving friend. anderson? >> what does she do, anderson? >> she sends me obscene messages, they're funny, no doubt about it. she makes me laugh. she sends me messages as if she has no idea what i am and where i'm going. >> for example, during the gaza strip crisis, i sent you a text that said. >> i can't remember. what did you say? >> i'm bored. i want to go for pizza tonight. what are you doing? >> exactly.

and there had just been a big explosion for something. you would think normally a friend would be like, wow, i saw that. i'm concerned about you. she's just like, what are you up to? >> i forgot you were on tv. >> that's what we love about you two. >> i thought you were still modeling for ralph lauren. i didn't know you went on to the tv gig. >> happy new year to both of you. >> happy new year. >> a lot more of that to come tonight right here on cnn's new year's eve live with anderson cooper and kathy griffin. they'll kick it off from 10:00 eastern. people really love snapshot from progressive, but don't just listen to me. listen to these happy progressive customers. i plugged in snapshot, and 30 days later,

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